Feds: Former county real estate agent stole, sold home appliances

A former Shelby resident faces several years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to selling household appliances she illegally removed from vacant homes owned by a federal housing agency, according to the U.S. justice department.

A former Shelby resident faces several years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to selling household appliances she illegally removed from vacant homes owned by a federal housing agency, according to the U.S. justice department.

Sember Lynn Smathers, 49, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer to one count of conspiracy to steal government property, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Smathers was released on bond pending sentencing. A date for sentencing has not yet been set. Her mug shot was not available from federal authorities.

Court records show Smathers stole more than $13,678 worth of appliances from vacant homes. Filed documents show Smathers and a group of co-conspirators used The Star, the Shelby Shopper and Craig’s List to advertise and sell the appliances.

According to a criminal indictment and plea agreement, Smathers was a real estate agent and had access to listings of vacant Charlotte-area real estate properties owned by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

According to court records, from September 2008 to July 2009, Smathers used a master key to enter vacant HUD homes in North and South Carolina and unlawfully remove appliances and other items, including refrigerators, stoves, washers and dryers.

Smathers and co-conspirators normally conducted the operations one or two times per week.

Court records indicate that Smathers then sold the items from her home in Shelby, according to the justice department release. In February 2009, Smathers and a co-conspirator leased a building in Shelby and set up a business called “Cheap Stuff,” from which they sold the household appliances as well as clothes and lawn maintenance equipment stolen from the HUD properties.

According to filed documents, Smathers and another co-conspirator also maintained a storage unit in Shelby to store the stolen appliances.

Court records indicate that in one instance, Smathers and another person were conducting a “clean out” while subcontractors were working at the same vacant HUD property. When the subcontractors questioned Smathers about the removal of the appliances from the home, Smathers falsely represented that she and her co-conspirator also worked for the same subcontractors and had been directed to remove the appliances from the home.

The investigation into the case was handled by the Office of Investigation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD-OIG). The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Smith of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.